Hinge assembly for a dishwasher door

ABSTRACT

An improved hinge assembly for a dishwasher door, wherein a hinge arm of the hinge assembly includes a selector element pivotally attached to its lower end, the selector element being biased by a spring in such a manner that when the door is unlatched the spring causes the selector element to pivot thereby forcing a cam surface against a cam pad to effect opening of the door a preselected distance and thereby promoting natural drying of dishes inside the dishwasher.

United States Patent [191 Guth [' Nov. 25, 1975 HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR ADISHWASHER DOOR [75] Inventor: Lauren W. Guth, Louisville, Ky.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company,

Louisville, Ky.

[22] Filed: Apr. 29, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 464,894

[52] US. Cl 16/142; 126/191 [51] Int. Cl. E05D 11/08; F23M 7/00 [58]Field of Search ..l6/1,180,139,140,141,

Primary Examiner-Patrick D. Lawson [57] ABSTRACT An improved hingeassembly for a dishwasher door, wherein a hinge arm of the hingeassembly includes a selector element pivotally attached to its lowerend, the selector element being biased by a spring in such a manner thatwhen the door is unlatched the spring causes the selector element topivot thereby forcing a cam surface against a cam pad to effect openingof the door a preselected distance and thereby promoting natural dryingof dishes inside the dishwasher.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS2,264,059 11/1941 Weimer et a1, 126/191 US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975Sheetlof2 3,921,252

FIGZI US. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,921,252

HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR A DISHWASHER DOOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In theuse of a dishwasher, it is desirable to provide a door-hinge assembly,such as shown for example in US. Pat. No. 2,727,507-Titus, whereby thedoor can be moved between closed, partially open, and fully openpositions and releasably maintained at said positions. Various apparatushave been constructed to provide such a door assembly. However, it isdesirable to provide a door-hinge assembly which has improved smoothnessof operation during movement of the door between the partially open andthe closed position and which is of simple construction.

The apparatus of this invention provides these desired operationalfeatures and, moreover, reduces the impact forces exerted on the doorand reduces the noise of operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, a dishwasherhas a door pivotally movable between a closed position and a fully: openposition. -A hinge arm having first and second end portions is connectedto the door at its first end portion and extends outwardly therefrom. Aselector element having first and second end portions and first andsecond side portions ispivotally attached to the second end portion ofthe hinge arm. The selector element includes a cam surface on the firstside portion and a stop element on the second side portion. A cam pad isconnected to the appliance at a location in juxtaposition to thelocation of the cam surface, when the door is in its closed position. Aspring is associated with the selector element so that upon unlatchingof the door the selector element is caused to pivot, thereby bringingthe cam surface into frictional contact with the cam pad, thus exertingan opening force on the door through the hinge arm. The stop element onthe second side portion of the selector element restricts the pivotalmovement thereof so that the door is only opened a preselected amount.The stop element also insures that the cam surface does not pivot to anovercenter position with respect to the pivot point on the hinge arm andthus prevent the door from being closed. By preventing the cam surfacefrom pivoting to an over-center position, it is possible to reload thespring for subsequent opening of the door by simply closing thedishwasher door and causing the cam surface to pivot the selectorelement in the opposite direction against the bias of the spring.

More specifically, the invention includes: in a dishwasher having alatchable door pivotally movable between a closed position and a fullyopen position; a hinge arm having first and second end portions andbeing connected at the first end portion to the door and extendingoutwardly therefrom; and a spring associated with the hinge arm forexerting forces on the door through said hinge arm, the improvementcomprising: a cam pad connected to the appliance at a location adjacentthe second end portion of the hinge arm in the closed position of thedoor; and a selector element having first and second end portions, firstand' second side portions, a cam surface on the first side portion and astop element on the second side portion, said selector element beingconnected at the first end portion to the spring and pivotally connectedat the second end portion to the second end portion of the hinge arm,said selector element being of dimensions sufficient for contacting thecam pad with the cam surface and exerting an opening force on the dooragainst a biasing force of the spring in the closed position of thedoor; whereupon unlatching of the door allows said selector element topivot to the extent permitted by the stop element, thereby exerting anopening force on the door through the hinge arm to open the door apreselected distance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, partiallysectioned view of a portion of a dishwasher showing the hinge assemblyof this invention and the door in a closed position;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic, partially sectioned view of a portion of adishwasher showing the hinge assembly of this invention and the door ina partially open position; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic, partially sectioned view of a portion of adishwasher showing the hinge assembly and the door in a fully openposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the embodiment of FIG. 1, adishwasher 10 has a door 12 that is pivotally connected to a wall of thedishwasher 10 for movement between a closed position (FIG. 1) and afully open position (FIG. 3).

A hinge arm 14 has first and second end portions I6, 18 and is connectedat the first end portion 16 behind an inner surface 20 of the door 12and extends outwardly therefrom.

A selector element 22 has first and second end portions 24, 26 and firstand second side portions 28, 30. A cam surface 32 is on the first sideportion 28 of the selector element 22 and a stop element 34 is on thesecond side portion 30 of the selector element 22. The selector element22 is connected at the first end portion 24 to a biasing means 36, suchas a helical spring, and is pivotally connected at the second endportion 26- to the second end portion 18 of the hinge arm 14.

A cam pad 38 is connected to the dishwasher 10 at a location adjacentthe position of'second end portion 18 of the hinge arm 14 when the door12 is in its closed position.

The selector element 22 is of dimensions sufficient for contacting thecam pad 38 with the cam surface 32 and exerting a tensile force on thebiasing means 36 as the door is being closed.

In FIG. 2, the selector element 22 is shown to be of sufficientdimensions such that the cam pad 38 frictionally engages the cam surface32. Upon unlatching of the door, selector element 22 pivots, due to thebias of spring 36, until the stop element 34 contacts the end portion 18of the hinge arm 14.

In FIG. 3, the selector element 22 is shown to be of dimensionssufficient for being disengaged from the cam pad when the door 12 ismoved between the partially open and fully open positions.

The biasing means 36 acts as a normal door restraining spring when thedoor is between its partially open and open positions. It performs thefurther function of a door opening spring when the door is between itsclosed and partially open positions. In this regard, it should be notedthat there is less tensile force on the biasing means 36 when the dooris in the partially open position, relative to the tensile force exertedon the biasing means 36 when the door is closed. This differential intensile force is brought about by providing that when the door is closedselector element 22 pivots in the opposite direction to increase thetensile force on the spring and thus enable it to perform the additionalfunction of being a door opening means.

As can be appreciated, the size and weight of the door 12 and the sizeand dimensions of the hinge arm 14 will determine the dimensions of theselector element 22 and biasing means 36 needed for providing theabove-described operation.

It should be noted that when the door is unlatched and the cam surface32 pivots in frictional contact with the cam pad 38, the frictionalcontact of the cam surface 32 with the cam pad 38 exerts a smoothuniform force on the selector element which eliminates much of the noiseof operation and increases the smoothness of operation. Also, the rateat which the door opens is controlled by frictional forces exerted onthe cam surface 32 and abrupt stopping of the opening operation isavoided with less door impact and rebound.

Other modifications and alterations of this invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing discussion, andit should be understood that this invention is not to be unduly limitedthereto.

What is claimed is:

1. In a dishwasher having a latchable door pivotally movable between aclosed position and a fully open position, a hinge arm having first andsecond end portions and being connected at the first end portion to thedoor and extending outwardly therefrom, and a spring associated with thehinge arm for exerting forces on the door through said hinge arm, theimprovement comprising:

a cam pad connected to the appliance at a location adjacent the secondend portion of the hinge arm in the closed position of the door; and

a selector element having first and second end portions, first andsecond side portions, a cam surface on the first side portion and a stopelement on the second side portion, said selector element beingconnected at the first end portion to the spring and pivotally connectedat the second end portion to the second end portion of the hinge arm,said selector element being of dimensions sufficient for contacting thecam pad with the cam surface and exerting an opening force through thehinge arm on the door, the opening force resulting from a biasing forceof the spring in the closed position of the door, whereupon unlatchingof the door allows said selector element to pivot until the stop elementcontacts the second end portion of the hinge arm, thereby opening thedoor a preselected distance.

2. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selector element isof a dimension such that less force is exerted thereon by the springwhen the door is in the partially open position relative to the forceexerted thereon by the spring when the door is in the closed position.

3. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selector element isof dimensions sufficient for continuously contacting the cam pad withthe cam surface during movement of the door between the closed positionand the partially open position of the door.

4. Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selector element ismoved from contact with said cam pad when the door is moved between itspartially open position and its fully open position and said spring actson said hinge arm through said selector element to function as a normalrestraining spring.

l l l

1. In a dishwasher having a latchable door pivotally movable between aclosed position and a fully open position, a hinge arm having first andsecond end portions and being connected at the first end portion to thedoor and extending outwardly therefrom, and a spring associated with thehinge arm for exerting forces on the door through said hinge arm, theimprovement comprising: a cam pad connected to the appliance at alocation adjacent the second end portion of the hinge arm in the closedposition of the door; and a selector element having first and second endportions, first and second side portions, a cam surface on the firstside portion and a stop element on the second side portion, saidselector element being connected at the first end portion to the springand pivotally connected at the second end portion to the second endportion of the hinge arm, said selector element being of dimensionssufficient for contacting the cam pad with the cam surface and exertingan opening force through the hinge arm on the door, the opening forceresulting from a biasing force of the spring in the closed position ofthe door, whereupon unlatching of the door allows said selector elementto pivot until the stop element contacts the second end portion of thehinge arm, thereby opening the door a preselected distance. 2.Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selector element is of adimension such that less force is exerted thereon by the spring when thedoor is in the partially open position relative to the force exertedthereon by the spring when the door is in the closed position. 3.Apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the selector element is ofdimensions sufficient for continuously contacting the cam pad with thecam surface during movement of the door between the closed position andthe partially open position of the door.
 4. Apparatus, as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the selector element is moved from contact with saidcam pad when the door is moved between its partially open position andits fully open position and said spring acts on said hinge arm throughsaid selector element to function as a normal restraining spring.